Improvement in concussion-fuse



E. A. DANA.

Shell Fuse.

Patented April 20, 1869.

gran l.

EDWARD A. DANA, OF BROOKLIN E, MASSACHUSETTS.

Letters Patent No. 89,204, dated 111M120, 1869.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the name.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, EDWARD A. DANA, of Brookline, in the county of Norfolk, and State of l\'[assa chusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Construction of Concussion-Fuses for exploding projectiles; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

The main chamber of the fuse-plug A, Figure 1, is

a cylindrical cavity, whose walls H H H H, Figure 2, are lined with sand-paper, or otherwise made to present a rough surface.

' Within this chamber is a cylinder, B, which holds, in a shallow recess, H, a composition that will igniteby friction upon the surface H, and will produce a body of flame sufficient to inflame a charge of gunpowder .contained in the channel 0 0, this channel passing through the cylinder B, and leading from the recess [-1 to the rear of the fuse-plug, where it is separated from the cavity of the shell by a light stopper, of wax, or of other suitable material.

The composition contained in the recess H may be any of those ordinarily used for friction-matches, but I prefer to cover a portion of the surface H H with a paste containing red or amorphous phosphorus, and to use at H a mixture of chlorate of potash, sulphide of antimony, and glue, or one of other suitable materials which will ignite only when rubbedupon a surface impregnated with phosphorus.

The perforated cylinder B rests, at its lower end, upon the screw K, Figure 3, in which it has a conical seat, and is held in place at its upper end by the plug G, figs. 2 and 3, which plug enters, by a curved or conical head, into a cavity in the upper end of B, shaped to receive it.

G is itself held by a safety-pin, D, which will break by a moderately sharp blow. and is also kept in place by a cake of quick-burning fuse-composition, E, figs. 2 and 3, whichis rammed into the upper part of the fuse-chamber, and held down by the hollow screw F, figs. 2 and 3. This screw F has in it openings, or channels, which contain mealed powder, and serve to communicate the flame of the gun to the fuse-oomposit-ion E, this form of fuse beingespeoially intended for use with spherical shells, which are freely enveloped by flame when the piece is fired.

The cake or powder block E, on being inflamed, burns away in about half a second of time, and leaves a free space in front of the plug G. This being done, if the shell strikes an obstacle in a direction which makes any angle whatever with the axis of the fuse, a force will be brought to bear on G, either of direct forward impulse or of pressure on the oblique surface of its head, which will tend to thrust it out of its seat, and to break the safety-pin D. The cylinder B being thus released, the surface H comes into contact with H, and, by the friction resulting from the motion of the shell, inflammation is produced.

I am aware that, in concussion fuses, balls and-cones have been used, which arcthrown forward from their seats by either direct or oblique impulse, and I do not claim broadly such a device; but

Vhat I do claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. The combination of the plunger, or-cylinder B with the walls H, when the former is coated with a composition inflammable by friction against the latter, prepared substantially in the manner specified.

2. The combination of't-he plunger B, the plug G, and the powder block E, arranged substantially as described.

EDWARD A. DANA.

Witnesses:

FRANK G. PARKER, Gusmvus GROEGER. 

